It’s time for my annual collection of “best of the year” travel lists! Since I have no plans to travel to any new destinations before the end of the year, I’m ready to reveal the first: my favorite new destinations of the year. Every year, I do a round-up of my favorite new destinations of the year. In [...]

Ten years ago today, I was studying abroad in Florence. For the past several months, I’ve been thinking that my 10-year study abroadaversary would be a great opportunity to look back at that special time. Studying abroad is one of the best decisions I ever made and by far the best thing I did in college. [...]

Where’s the best place to stay in Paris? For most people, going to Paris is the trip of a lifetime — so it’s all the more important to carefully choose where you stay. Paris was the first city I ever fell in love with, and after thirteen years, it’s still my favorite city in the world. On my first [...]

Norway’s Flåm Railway, or Flamsbana, is often cited as one of the world’s most beautiful train journeys. Beginning in the sea-level fjord hamlet of Flåm and extending to the town of Myrdal, 863 meters above sea level, the train glides through grassy mountains with waterfalls spurting out from every direction. Is it the most beautiful train journey? Well, I’ve been [...]

Norway. One of the most beautiful countries in the world. One of the most expensive countries in the world. A unique and cold and clear and precise destination — yet one that until recently had been out of my price range. But I finally had an opportunity. Norwegian Air is now flying to New York, and at this [...]

When New Year’s 2014 rolled around, I didn’t think I would be visiting Germany at all this year. How wrong I was! By August, I had visited Leipzig, Wilhelmshaven, Bremen, Hamburg, Lübeck, Berlin, Potsdam, and finally Cologne and Brühl. With the exception of Berlin, they were all new destinations for me. Cologne closed out my summer of [...]

When you think about visiting Norway, what comes to mind first? Fjords. It’s always fjords. They are the symbol of the country and one of the reasons why many people consider Norway the most naturally beautiful country in Europe. I couldn’t go to Norway for the first time without visiting any fjords, which is why I chose [...]

If you’re new to this site, here’s something you’ll soon learn about me: I regularly take on way more than I should, bite off way more than I can chew, and end up stressing myself out for the sake of seeing as much as possible while traveling. The latest example? My one-day road trip through [...]

August is a sacred month to Italians. It’s tradition to take the whole month off — unless you work in, say, the hospitality industry, as someone needs to serve copious scoops of gelato to the ridiculously good-looking, speedo-clad Italians who use this time off as a reason to flock to the seaside. But there’s more to [...]

If summer has a perfect sweet spot, it can be found in Finland. Forget the gray, rainy, temperamental weather of London, Paris, Limerick, and Cologne, the days that could easily have appeared during any other month of the year. Forget the sweltering days of Dubrovnik and Ljubljana, where going outside was akin to hurling yourself into a [...]

Who is Adventurous Kate?

At age 26, I quit my job to travel the world alone. I spent six fantastic months in Southeast Asia and turned my travel blog into a full-time business. Today, I travel full-time, going anywhere that sounds wacky or beautiful or interesting. My goal is to show YOU how you can travel the world on your own -- easily, safely, and adventurously. Read more here.

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